IU starts effort to improve science, math education

May 20, 2006

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) Â? Indiana University is starting an effort to increase the involvement of its faculty in improving math and science education at the state's elementary, middle and high schools.

Michael McRobbie, IU's vice president for academic affairs, said the Institute for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education would promote collaboration between IU faculty and K-12 educators, as well as with policy makers and business and community leaders.

"We felt there was a real opportunity for us to participate in helping effect this strengthening, given the expertise we have particularly in the School of Education but also in a number of science departments," he said Friday.

McRobbie, also interim provost of the Bloomington campus, said IU would commit $200,000 a year for three years toward the institute.

"This will be the first of a number of new centers we will be announcing over probably the next six months," he said.

Gerardo Gonzalez, dean of the IU School of Education, said the center would help the campus compete for federal science-education funding.

He said an coming increase in the number of science and math credits required for high-school graduation in Indiana will create a need for more science and math teachers, especially in urban schools.

"We need to ensure our current teaching work force takes advantage of professional development opportunities to enhance their skills," he said.

McRobbie and Gonzalez discussed plans for the center during opening events for the National Science Olympiad, which drew some 2,000 middle- and high-school students from across the nation to the campus.

"We need to take that kind of excitement about science and learning and take it to scale so we reach more diverse populations across the state and nation," Gonzalez said.